Today I continue the Central Asia prognosis for 2016 with a preview of a new project I’m initiating this year on higher education in Central Asia. Do please also check out part 1 on a Kazakh take on the regional outlook and part 2 on Tajikistan’s seemingly bleak prospects.

I’m excited to announce that later this year, I will launch a new community called Higher education in Central Asia (HECA) / Высшее образование в Центральной Азии (ВОЦА) as a way to bring together people in Central Asia and around the world who have an interest in the subject that as regular readers of this blog will know is my personal passion. The community will be a space for people to share research findings, opinions and news about higher education in Central Asia.

HECA/ВОЦА will have its own website (currently under development) and I am actively looking for people to join what will be an online community to begin with. Whether you simply want to keep in touch with what’s happening in the world of Central Asian higher ed, or want to contribute on a one-off or ongoing basis, I warmly encourage you to get in touch by posting a comment on this article as a starting point.

HECA/ВОЦА is open to emerging as well as established writers and thinkers and is intended to be as inclusive as possible. HECA/ВОЦА will use English and Russian; editorial assistance may be available for non-native English speakers wishing to publish in English.

Once launched, HECA/ВОЦА will be my main outlet for reporting on education, and this blog will continue the more general themes I’ve already started working on this year relating to contemporary society and politics in Central Asia. I’d be delighted to feature guest posts from time to time so do get in touch if you would like to join forces!